Their Whiskey Lullaby
by BlackCat46
Summary: 'He looks at me and I want to hug him as he slurs "I'm drinkin' out the memory of her."' Haymitch can't stand life without Effie. He just can't. She hates a world without him in it. The regret she feels overwhelms her. This is a really tragic one-shot based on Brad Paisley's Whiskey Lullaby.
**(A/N: This is based on Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley. I cried writing this, so I understand if you cry too.)**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, its characters or plot. I also do not own Whiskey Lullaby. Credits to the owners._

 ** _Trigger warning: Death, suicide._**

* * *

 _Katniss_

It was awful. Haymitch had proposed to Effie right there in the middle of the show. She'd started crying and whispered something he later told me had been that she could smell the whiskey on his breath, before she turned him down. She destroyed him that night. And now... Now I go to see to him every day. He's drinking more heavily by the day. I see him on one particular day, the one before my nightmare becomes a reality. I ask "Haymitch, what's brought on the drinking? You were doing so well."

He looks at me and I want to hug him as he slurs "I'm drinkin' out the memory of _her._ "

She broke his heart and I want to strangle her for it. He's sat here drinking his pain away, while she's living it up in the Capitol without him.

* * *

The next night, I go to him. He's never been drunk enough to forget Effie. We all know that, he's loved her for so long. But I go over there and I find him on the floor, his face in a pillow, bottles surrounding him. I turn him over and check for his breathing. He doesn't seem to be, nor does he have a pulse. He's cold and has clearly been lay here for hours. I see a note in his hand, reading _"I'll love her until I die."_ I call Peeta, who comes running.

The medics come. We spend hours with him and all the while I'm cursing her for destroying him. He's the only family we have and she's broken him. He hadn't fought us. He hadn't mustered up the energy to use any sarcasm or jokes. His geese had been taken and he hadn't said no. She broke him. Eventually, the medic shakes his head. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."

Peeta nods and I cling to Haymitch. Gone... He was so full of life... I look to Peeta. "Call Effie, now," I tell him. "She needs to see how hurting him has turned out."

"Katniss," Peeta says softly. "She's happy. Leave her be."

"No! He's dead because of her! She destroyed him! She deserves to see how much pain she put him through!" I yell, clinging to the only father figure I've had in over ten years.

He nods, then sighs. "I'll call her," he tells me.

He does and I hang on to Haymitch's hand. "She'll never hurt you again. She'll get her comeuppance. I promise you that," I tell him, though I know he's past hearing me.

* * *

 _Effie_

Haymitch? Dead? No... No. I see the coffin and that wonderful man lying there. We're alone, an hour before his funeral. I kiss his cold lips gently and whisper "I've always loved you. It was a huge mistake to turn you down."

I expect him to reply, like he used to, but I get nothing. I broke his heart and his spirit. He deserved so much better. And to think that today could have been the birthday of one of our children or our wedding anniversary. I love my Haymitch. I never forgot him. Peeta's voice, once warm and loving toward me, is now cold as he asks "Are you ready?"

I nod. "Yes," I reply, looking sadly at the peaceful face of my Haymitch.

The funeral is quiet. I cry silently, underneath my black veil, as he's lowered into the ground beneath his favourite old willow tree. As I feel my soul going into the ground, I lower two red roses onto his coffin. Red roses symbolise love, after all. And I have nothing without him. And everyone at the funeral sings their funeral song.

At the wake, nobody talks to me. I get lots of hateful looks. Everyone knows it's my fault that he died. I should have said yes. He'd still be alive. He'd be happy. He'd have children. He'd have felt as loved as he is. I leave the wake without a goodbye. Nobody here will care. I go out and I buy four years worth of alcohol. I don't acknowledge any hate-filled glares that are aimed at me. I sit on the floor and drink, night after night, hoping it'll kill me, too. It's my fault he died. When I run out of alcohol, three weeks later, I go to buy more, sucking on endless mints as I do. The woman who sells them whispers "You're going to go the same way as poor old Abernathy if you're not careful."

"I'll be careful," I lie. I want to go that way.

"Look at _that_ woman, there. See? She's the reason Abernathy drank himself to death. She broke his heart. Took away his will to live. Doesn't even regret it, heartless old witch," one man whispers.

"Hey, Trinket! Happy now he's dead?" a woman yells.

"Of course she is, she's the cause of it," another calls back.

Oh, if you only knew! I _know_ it's my fault! People start throwing things at me, so I run. "Oi, you stupid coward, get back here!" someone yells.

I run back to his home, my alcohol in my bag. I cry as I drink, wishing it'd kill me. I drink more and more for weeks on end, his memory never fading from my mind. One night, I drink more than I ever have before, more than he ever did, even on the night he died. As the effects take place, I down one more bottle, clinging to his picture. I whisper "I'll never forget you. Not even in death."

* * *

 _Peeta_

I go into Haymitch's house after Effie's sobs stop. I know she's been hiding there. People torture her whenever she goes out and she hasn't left in over a month now. Last night her sobs stopped and they haven't resumed. I find her lying on the same pillow he died on, his picture clutched to her chest. She's not moving. I call Katniss and the medics. I check her for a pulse and breathing. Neither appear. She's dead. I know before anyone says it. She has a note clutched behind his picture. I read _"I will love him forever,"_ in her curly script.

Katniss, who still harbours some form of affection for Effie, looks at her shrunken body and softly says "She died alone and brokenhearted too. From the same drink."

"It's no surprise. She did love him. Didn't you see the flowers she put on his coffin?" I ask, looking at the only real mother figure I'd ever had.

"No, what flowers?" Katniss asks.

"Red roses. They symbolise love. She placed two of them on his coffin. After the wake, everyone treated her badly. She drank herself to death over it," I sigh, holding her shrunken hand.

* * *

Her funeral is a quiet ceremony. Barely anyone's showed up. Just Katniss, Annie and her little boy, Beetee, her mom, dad and sister and me. We bury her next to Haymitch, under the old willow tree. Nobody went to see her in her casket like she did for Haymitch. Nobody had wanted to know. She hadn't left instructions. It seems very much like she hadn't wanted a funeral, just to rot alone in his house forever. As they start to sing the traditional funeral song, I look beside her coffin and see a transparent figure, looking like it's crying. On closer inspection, I see that it's Haymitch. He's crying over her. She's standing a little distance away, as if she wants to talk to him. She looks at me and shakes her head slightly, then points to herself and down. I shake my head back and nod to him, then up. She smiles and looks to Haymitch, her mouth opening to form his name. He looks up and mouths "Effie?"

She nods and mouths "I'm sorry."

He runs to her and hugs her tightly. He's whispering to her, because a sad smile appears on her face and she nods. He kisses her happily before they walk off into the trees and vanish. I don't even know I'm crying until Katniss pokes me and asks "You okay?"

I nod. "I'm fine. They're at peace now." And I know that they are.

* * *

 **A/N: I am so sorry if this hurt. Let me know what you think. *Hugs* BlackCat46. xx**


End file.
